


as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

by panic (panic_kingexe)



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Getting Together, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, dreamnap nation rise up, not enough dreamnap without george
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:13:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27889579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panic_kingexe/pseuds/panic
Summary: He dreamt of a small bird perched on a branch, a dark stripe painted straight across its eyes.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 138





	1. i couldn’t utter my love when it counted

_‘Does anyone want to be friends?’_ He’d typed into the chat once upon a time, the flame flickering in his chest glowing brighter with the thought of a new friend.

A few minutes passed without a response, and with every inhale, the light behind his ribs dimmed. The chat reappeared. 

_‘Sure! :)’_ Came the response, throwing tinder onto the spark with a careless hand of a child. He rushed to reply, and that was that. 

He had a new friend. 

———

‘Dream!’ He called, excited. A chuckle echoed from his headphones, breathy. 

‘Hey, Pandas,’ Dream said, a smile evident in his voice. He wondered if Dream smiled with his teeth. 

‘You sound so different than I thought you would!’ He said, eyes brighter than ever. A wheeze sounded through his headphones, and his lungs nearly ripped out of him with how fast he exhaled. He laughed, breathless. 

‘Your laugh is so different too,’ he said, and Dream snorted. 

‘C’mon, let’s play,’ Dream said, the tapping of his fingers against his keyboard audible even through the call. 

That day, he learned that his friend hit his table in frustration. He ended their first call with a nearly raw throat, having nearly cried laughing with Dream. 

_‘That was fun! :)’_ Dream texted him afterwards, and warmth had spread, syrup-slow, from his ribs, along his limbs, like someone was tracing his silhouette with a paintbrush.

He replied with a smiley face, and went to bed. 

Before he slept, he decided that he and Dream would be friends forever; a child’s promise. 

He dreamt of a small bird perched on a branch, a dark stripe painted straight across its eyes.

———

‘Ready?’ Sapnap asked, energy burning through his limbs like electricity through a wire. He could hardly keep still, bouncing his leg tirelessly against the bottom of the desk. 

‘Yes!’ Dream said, and they began counting down.

‘-3, 2, 1!’ And they both turned on their webcams. Sapnap refused to blink, wine-dark eyes gliding over tan, freckled skin, graceful cheekbones. Seashell-hued lips pulled into a smile, and Sapnap barely caught the glint of white teeth behind the pink. 

Sapnap laughed, eyes wide. He watched Dream laugh too, leaning back in his chair. Sapnap could have stared forever and still refused to tear his eyes away from him.

‘You’re so-’ he hesitated. _Where was the line?_ He’d lost sight of it once the thought had swallowed him whole, leaving nothing but a voice and his sight. ‘Pretty, Dream.’

Red bloomed from behind Dream’s skin, and unsettlingly green eyes widened. They reminded Sapnap of sunlit jade. Dream blinked at him, some sort of golden shock passing through the green. 

‘Thank you, Sapnap,’ he smiled, something fond and fragile building in the curl of his lips, in the space between them and only them. Sapnap returned the smile, and _god_ , he could only hope that he was as beautiful as Dream. 

Dream cleared his throat, and it echoed loudly in the call, breaking the spell that had settled somewhere between them. ‘Let’s get started, Sapnap.’ 

Sapnap just nodded, mute. He’d leapt past the line of simple friendship, just then. Even as he effectively ripped it into shreds, it stayed as bold and black as ever. 

The small bird returned to him, fluttering uncertainly to the forefront of his mind. 

The black stripe across its eyes came into focus.

———

‘Hey, doll,’ Sapnap cooed at his screen. Dream laughed, and Sap leaned back into his chair, a sense of satisfaction pooling under his ribs. 

‘Pandas,’ Dream said, and Sapnap perked up at the nickname that only Dream could use. ‘I met a new guy and I think you’ll like him too.’ 

‘Really?’ 

‘Yeah! His name’s George and he codes,’ Dream says, pausing for Sapnap’s burst of excitement. Sap had always expressed an interest in coding.

‘That’s awesome!’ 

A fond grin spreads across Dream’s face, and Sapnap pauses at the sight of it.

‘Yeah, it really is.’ 

He wouldn’t see that smile nearly as much in the coming years. 

———

‘Hi, honey,’ Sapnap drawled into the mic, distracted. He watched George’s brows scrunch in polite confusion, his chat going absolutely wild. 

‘Oh, hey, Sapnap,’ came the groggy reply. There was a beat before George’s chat exploded again, and George laughed, turning his head to read some of them. 

‘ _Is something going on between Sapnap and Dream?_ Yeah, is something going on with you two? How’d you know he was talking to you?’ 

‘..Huh?’ Sapnap rolled his eyes; sleepy Dream could never focus. 

‘Because I _love_ him, George, and he knows it.’ He bit his lip, nearly instantly regretting his words. _Why didn’t he think before he talked?_

It was just a bit too close to the truth that he’d held somewhere behind his skin for years.

‘I love you too, Sapnap,’ Dream smiled, and all the doubt dissolved into warmth. 

For the rest of the stream, Dream largely ignored him in favour of paying attention to George, even as he felt every single one of Dream’s wheezes and laughs in his bones like jolts of electricity.

_I know I love him; is it too late to say?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy got the prologue done 
> 
> absolutely love dreamnap and distraught by the lack of dreamnap fics 
> 
> the ratio of dreamnap to dnf is actually ridiculous there are SO LITTLE dreamnap fics 
> 
> anyways hope you enjoyed :)


	2. i couldn’t whisper when you needed it shouted

‘What are you guys’ favourite snacks?’ He asked distractedly, fingers trailing across his keyboard. 

‘Sapnap.’

‘You,’ Dream purred, and Sapnap’s face burned. Karl giggled in the background, but Sap could barely focus, replaying Dream’s silk-smooth tone in his head. 

Flirting mindlessly was what made Dream,  _ Dream.  _ It never meant anything, not to Dream, not to George, Fundy, hell, even Karl. It was knitted into his personality as much as his competitiveness was. 

But damn if Sapnap didn’t hate him for it. 

———

Dream entered the call, and Sapnap watched George perk up, excited. ‘Dream’s here!’ 

‘Dream!’ 

‘George!’ Dream had replied, nearly immediately. 

‘Dream!’ 

Dream didn’t respond, and Sapnap’s voice nearly died in his throat. 

‘Sapnap..’ He said, trying to play it off. 

He relived that moment many times over that night, awkwardness trailing over his limbs, climbing down his throat. He felt like he was 15 again, humiliating himself stupidly in front of his crushes. 

He pressed the palm of his hands hard into his eyes, black enveloping his vision. He thought of Dream, his attention focused wholly on George, Sapnap collecting scraps left behind. His eyes hurt.  _ Tell me what’s wrong with me. I can change, I can change.  _

_ For you, I can change.  _

———

What does George have that he doesn’t?

He scrolled through twitter mindlessly, eyes unfocused. Sapnap couldn’t help but compare their friendships; on paper, he had everything in his favour. He had been friends with Dream way before George had ever come into the picture. 

He played plenty of Minecraft with Dream, George hadn’t even seen his face yet. So when did things turn? When had Sapnap been left behind, there but not there at the same time? He’d been watching. He wasn’t involved. 

George was a great friend. Logically, he knew. But even then, George was taking something away from him, and Sapnap’s main instinct was always to bite, to defend. 

_ This is mine, _ he wanted to say.  _ You can’t have it.  _

But Dream wanted him to have it. He couldn’t help but notice the amount of videos George was in far surpassing the videos that he was in. 

He focused back onto his phone, and saw that he’d landed on a short clip from one of Dream’s streams. 

‘Just say you love me. C’mon, I love you, why can’t you say you love me?’ Dream pleaded to George. George ignored him. 

_ What does he have that I don’t? _

———

Sapnap’s face appeared on his screen. Dream was sure he’d never tire of it. 

‘Hi, sweetheart,’ he smiled, rich and warm with amusement. Sapnap always gave him his full attention; Dream could cry. A flush crawled up his neck, fog-slow, and Dream pulled his sweater up to cover his mouth. 

‘Hey, Pandas.’ It came out muffled through the fabric of his sweater, and he watched something in Sapnap’s eyes soften like worn leather. 

‘It hasn’t been just us in a while,’ Sapnap said, words slow, lethargic. Dream hummed in acknowledgment. Guilt burned somewhere under his ribs, and he rubbed the soft inner fabric of his sweater against his lips. 

‘Sorry.’ He offers. He sounds small and stupid in the moment, but he watches Sapnap light up, and forgets. 

Sapnap says something, but all Dream can really focus on is his voice. The shape of his words are different in his headphones. Relaxed, his voice takes on a looser, more natural curl, his vowels thicker, lush in the hours between midnight and dawn. 

Not for his Twitch audience, not for his chat. Just for Dream. 

Dream props his head up with his hand, tracing the curve of Sapnap’s tanned cheek with his eyes mindlessly. Sapnap’s tired eyes stare back at him, a garnet glimmer somewhere within that threatened to envelop Dream whole if he wasn’t careful. 

He kind of wants to be swallowed up by the colour. He’d always be with Sapnap, then. 

He presses a cool palm onto his forehead, and closes his eyes. 

‘Did anyone ever tell you that you’d be a great vampire?’ He asks, half-wondering where the question came from. He opens his eyes to see crimson swirling in dark eyes, and  _ oh.  _ Okay. 

Sapnap looks amused, his velvet profile leaving everything else out of focus. ‘No.’ 

‘But I can say that I’d be a far better vampire hunter,’ Sapnap muses, flicking his dark fringe from his face. He smiles at Dream, and Dream doesn’t think before he returns it. 

Sapnap is built like a fighter, sun-warmed and tan and confident. The type of person you’d fight to keep your eyes off on buses, trains. His usual white bandana was off, and his feathery hair curls on his forehead. A lock of black hair flops onto his nose, and Dream can’t keep the smile off his face. 

Sapnap blows his fringe out of his face with glorious carelessness, and Dream wants to reach through the screen and  _ touch. _

Dizziness curls up in his chest and dissipates like smoke, so fast he can’t tell what emotion it is. Sapnap tilts his head at him. 

He’s handsome in a way that aches, and Dream feels ill.

He doesn’t think about George. 

———

‘Hey,’ Dream muttered. Sapnap readjusted his headphones, frowning. Dream was never this moody, and even if he was, he’d try his best not to be with him and George. 

‘Hi, honey,’ Sapnap scratched at his cheek. ‘Is there something wrong?’ 

Dream sniffed. 

‘She cheated on me,’ Dream sounded quiet, watery. Sapnap’s arm twitched. ‘I’d give you a hug, but I’m a bit too far for that.’ 

Dream tried his best to give a chuckle, and it came out choked and shaky, a leaf rustle to the usual hurricane of his laugh. Sapnap called Dream from his phone on Facetime, and winced heavily at the sight when Dream finally accepted. 

The tender skin under his eyes were bruised in the low light of his room, and his unsettlingly green eyes were rimmed with red, making the effect of the gemstone irises all the more disconcerting. He looked awful, clearly exhausted; his hair stuck up in random directions. 

‘Yeah. I don’t-‘ Dream inhaled sharply, wiping his eyes roughly with the back of his hand. His lashes, unbearably long, stick together with moisture. ‘She’s going to come back in a week to get her stuff, and-‘ 

Sapnap listened in silence, wet-eyed for no good reason at all. Energy buzzed under his skin like a horde of wasps, and he hated not being able to comfort Dream how he wanted to. 

‘I don’t- I don’t know what to do.’ Dream admitted, curling into himself. ‘It’s so  _ lonely _ here.’ 

‘Dream,’ Sapnap started, unsure of how to phrase this. ‘I’d buy a plane ticket just to come over and spend time with you. If you want. You don’t have to say yes.’ 

Sapnap bit his lip, and Dream looked at him, unsure. ‘You would do that?’ 

‘Anything,’ he promised.  _ I’d do anything for you, please, please.  _

The line of Dream’s mouth tilted up shakily, and he pushed his face into his hands. Christ, he’s adorable. 

‘I’d like that.’ He whispered. 

‘Yeah?’ Sapnap whispered back.  _ I love you, _ he wants to scream.  _ I love you. Wouldn’t I love for you to love me too?  _

‘Yeah.’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
